


Wisteria

by pogch4mp



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Canon Divergence, Enderman Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Piglin Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo Has Amnesia (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo's Enderspeech is Involved (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo's Memory Book (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29159397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pogch4mp/pseuds/pogch4mp
Summary: Ranboo was acting strange for quite a while, and it was noticeable. After one night, when he collapses in the snow, Phil and Techno take him into the cabin. From there they learn of his complete memory loss and the unfortunate circumstances behind it.--My first multichapter in a while, and my first published dsmp fic :)) takes place vaguely after Ranboo's CONFRONTATION stream, but time is very vague so it won't really matter (when it eventually gets outdated <33)
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 592





	1. Communication (Ranboo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sleep deprived as i wrote this, lemme know if anything doesn't make sense hdkjhafdkjsa  
> also, these first two chapters are short but the next ones will be longer, i promise!

Ranboo didn’t know where he was.

I mean, that happened sometimes, obviously. But this time he just... _had no id_ _ea._

He was in some kind of Overworld house? How’d he get here, who’s was this? 

He sat up, looking around and trying to find something he recognized, like _really_ recognized. When that failed, he went to things he knew the names of. Across the room were shelves of books and a table of enchanting. He was sitting on a resting place, which his legs dangled off of. Unsurprising, as they were built for the far smaller inhabitants of the Main dimension. 

He saw a head peek up from a hole in the ground, see him, then hoist itself up onto the floor. Ranboo watched him, furrowing his brow. 

Ranboo had a suspicion of what this creature was- not human nor of the End- but a Piglin resident of the Fire realm. He’d never seen one- he was pushing his luck going to the Overworld as often as he did- but he’d heard about them from travelers in the city. Large, far more animal than person, dressed in tattered rags and gold. Though, this one seemed fairly well-dressed by human standards, so maybe Ranboo was buying into stereotypes. Hell if he knew. 

The Piglin shouted something, which was returned by a much more human shout. There was another? Ranboo hadn’t known of Nether and Overworld creatures interacting. The piglin shouted a last time then turned to Ranboo. 

“Ranboo.” He said simply. It was strange, hearing an End name roll off a Nether tongue, and it sounded _wrong,_ but Ranboo just nodded. 

“That’s me. And who are you, exactly?” He said. 

The piglin didn’t respond, only shaking his head as Ranboo spoke. He said something- something Ranboo’s broken Piglin couldn’t decipher, though it didn’t really sound like Piglin at all- and a blond human emerged from the same hole he had, saying something else. 

They started having a conversation, it seemed, and Ranboo felt isolated. They kept looking at him, possibly talking about him, but he didn’t understand a word of it. He started fidgeting with his hands as their gibberish filled the background. 

He heard his name and perked up. The piglin was looking at him. 

“Ranboo-” and that was all he could understand. There was a few seconds of silence after the piglin’s sentence before Ranboo responded. 

“I don’t know what you’re saying, I don’t speak your language.” Wait- _his language_ \- Ranboo got an idea. Piglins have to speak Piglin, don’t they? Even if this one wasn’t right now, he had to _know._ He was rusty, and never knew much in the first place, but he tried his best to gather the words he knew into a coherent sentence. 

“Don’t know... _uh_ words. I am- _wait hold on..._ I... talk enderman.” Ranboo had to be honest, the only word he was confident in there was enderman. Ranboo hadn’t noticed that the pair had resumed talking before, but they both fully stopped when he spoke. They stared at him. 

The piglin said something and the human started laughing. They conserved again, briefly, and the piglin began a sentence, interrupting himself by turning to Ranboo and saying 

“You speak piglin?” It seemed more natural coming out of him than whatever else he was speaking. Ranboo nodded. 

“Yes. Small.” 

The piglin blinked, then turned to the human, saying something, bewildered. The human was still laughing, and waved at him to continue. 

“Alright. I guess this is how I’ll talk to you for now." 


	2. Communication (Techno)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate pov for ~spice~

“Wh- I ran out of emeralds.” 

“ _How?_ You have like eight stacks.” Techno turned away from his villager to Phil. 

“I _had_ eight stacks,” Phil said “It’s this stupid paper trade! This villager is bugged, it’s at normal librarian prices, I swear.” 

“Well our _old_ librarian wasn’t bugged but-” 

“Oh, alright-” 

“-but someone just left the door open, mister big bad hardcore man Philza Minecraft.” 

Phil laughed. “Okay, okay- I think I had more pressing things on my mind, Techno, I’ve gotta be honest.” 

“More pressing than a four paper emerald trade? I dunno...” 

Phil laughed and went to another villager, presumably to get some more emeralds. 

Techno was joking, of course. Phil had let a zombie in while bringing in Ranboo one night because the kid had been having... complications. The impressive part was that he let in not one, but _three_ zombies, two of which managed to stumble their way into their make-shift village. 

Techno’s piglin ears perked up- he heard a creak somewhere upstairs. Speak of the devil? 

“I’ll be right back.” He mumbled. Phil nodded. 

Techno climbed through his floors up to his bedroom- or, technically Ranboo’s bedroom for the past few days. 

Ranboo was looking down at the bed, looking a bit puzzled, it’d seem. With the creak of the ladder, Ranboo turned to look at him. Techno pulled himself into the room. Techno watched Ranboo look him over- studying him?- then called out to Phil. 

“What?” Phil hollered back. 

“Come up here!” He yelled. Then he turned to Ranboo. He looked so _absolutely_ lost. 

“Ranboo.” He said. 

Ranboo nodded, then responded with a garbled “⏁⊑⏃⏁’⌇ ⋔⟒. ⏃⋏⎅ ⍙⊑⍜ ⏃⍀⟒ ⊬⍜⎍, ⟒⌖⏃☊⏁⌰⊬?” 

Techno huffed. He didn’t know Ender- he wasn’t blaming Ranboo for whatever happened that got him like this, but it definitely put a barrier in communication. 

“Back to square one.” he mumbled. Phil emerged from the ladder. 

“What’s goin’ on?” He turned to Ranboo. 

“He’s up. Still speaking Ender, but he seems more... conscious.” 

“Well yeah, he was knocked out for four days.” Phil laughed. 

“No I mean-” 

“No, no, I know. Less AI, more Player?” 

Techno nodded. Ranboo looked at the ground, fidgeting with his hands. 

“I mean, d’you _know_ he can only speak Ender still?” Phil asked. 

Techno shrugged. “Not really- Ranboo.” He said, getting his attention. Ranboo looked up. 

“Ranboo, can you speak English?” He asked. 

Ranboo stared at him blankly. They stood in silence for a moment. 

“⟟ ⎅⍜⋏’⏁ ☍⋏⍜⍙ ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⊬⍜⎍’⍀⟒ ⌇⏃⊬⟟⋏☌, ⟟ ⎅⍜⋏’⏁ ⌇⌿⟒⏃☍ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⌰⏃⋏☌⎍⏃☌⟒.” He eventually responded. 

Techno sighed. “Taking that as a no.” 

Phil chuckled. “You were right, though. Sentences seem more... together. Especially since earlier.” 

“Yeah. I mean, I guess he’s getting bett-” Techno stopped dead in his tracks. 

“Don’t know... ⎍⊑... words,” Ranboo was saying “I am- ⍙⏃⟟⏁ ⊑⍜⌰⎅ ⍜⋏- I... talk enderman.” 

Phil and Techno stared at him. 

“He just spoke Piglin.” Techno said. 

Phil burst into laughter. 

“He can- How can he speak Piglin??” He directed the question vaguely at Phil, for whatever reason. 

“Hell if I know!” Phil chuckled. “I only barely knew he was speaking it.” 

“I think he just said he didn’t know what we were saying,” Techno translated “He’s not very good at it, to be honest.” 

“Definitely heard some Enderman noises in there.” Phil said. Techno nodded. 

“I mean, I guess I just-” He turned to Ranboo and cleared his throat. 

“You speak Piglin?” He asked, still surprised. Piglin felt weird- it was his first language, but _god_ it’d been a while since he last used it. 

Ranboo nodded. “Yes. Small.” He replied crudely. 

Techno blinked. “Yeah-” He said to Phil “Yeah, he speaks broken Piglin. How does he-?” 

Phil chuckled and waved him to continue talking. Techno rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. 

“Alright.” He said to Ranboo “I guess this is how I’ll talk to you for now.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay! those two should be the only chapters with a language barrier (for the reader, not the characters lmao) which means no more of ran's ender. from now on- unless i decide it doesn't work storytelling-wise or think itd be funny- ender will be in italics and piglin in bold :))


	3. Grounding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo and Techno maneuver around how much Ranboo remembers.

Techno was sitting on the bed next to Ranboo. Phil had gone back downstairs- saying he’d go out looking for another zombie villager because he  _ refused  _ to pay an emerald for two paper. 

They hadn’t really… said anything to each other yet. Techno was thinking, Ranboo didn’t want to initiate conversation.

**“Alright, how do you speak Piglin?”** Techno asked eventually. He had been trying to think of any logical way he  _ would-  _ where would he learn?  _ Why  _ would he learn?

Ranboo sat there, trying to explain in piglin words. He’d only learned a little bit from the Travelers when they visited the cities. Often the teenaged ones would speak to each other entirely in Piglin, like a secret code the little ones couldn’t understand. That was honestly the main reason he learned, to eavesdrop. There wasn’t much to do in the End, in his defense.

**“Uh… Learning- Learn was… not End… enderman.”** He gave it his best shot.

Techno narrowed his eyes, likely trying to figure out  _ what  _ he just said.

**“Right, okay- you… learned Piglin from endermen that… not End, what?”** Techno knew he was trying but good lord he had  _ no idea  _ what Ranboo was saying.

Ranboo drummed his fingers on his knee.  **“The Enderman...not the En- Fire?”** Ranboo didn’t know “Nether” in piglin, so he chose the next best thing. **“Fire enderman?”**

**“Fir- what, endermen from the Nether?”** Techno asked. Ranboo nodded.  **“Ah, alright, I see.”**

Another silence. They simply didn’t know what to say- literally, in Ranboo’s case. But for Techno, he couldn’t really gauge what all Ranboo knew- he didn’t even know where to start.

**“What-** _no, uh…_ **Who? Who… you. Who you.”** Ranboo said to break the silence. It was technically meant as more of a “how do you know me?” but he didn’t know how to articulate that. Once again, he could settle for the next best option.

**“Who am I?”** Ranboo nodded. Techno took a breath. Well that certainly helped with the ‘how much he knew’ question.  **“My name’s Technoblade.”** he said.  **“I live here. So does the guy who was with me, that’s Phil.”**

Ranboo nodded. After a second, Techno added;

**“I mean, you live here, too.”**

_ “I do?” _ Surprised, Ranboo turned to Techno, who’d been looking down at his boots since he sat down.

**“I can’t speak Enderman, Ranboo.”**

_“I-_ **What?”** He tried to amend. This couldn’t be right- he lived in the cities, in one of the Fleet colonies. He came to the Main Dimension sometimes for fun, but he’d definitely remember if he just… moved in with some Nether creature, wouldn’t he?

**“I guess you don’t remember- I gotta be honest, Ranboo, I don’t know where exactly you are in your whole memory thing right now. But you came here with me and Phil a while back.”**

_ Did he?  _ Ranboo would know, right? He’d have to know. This was ridiculous. There was no way…

Right?

Techno stood up and walked across the room to a window, pushing it open and waving Ranboo over. Ranboo stood- having to take a moment to steady himself- and came over.

Outside was a snow-covered landscape, and sitting among it was a quaint little spruce shack. Techno pointed to it.

**“That’s where you live.”** He said.  **“We had to bring you inside because you passed out during a snowstorm. That was four days ago.”**

Ranboo looked at him incredulously.  **“Four?”** he repeated.  _ Four,  _ that seemed excessive.

Techno nodded.  **“Yeah. Even before then you weren’t really yourself. Not very aware, kind of just wanderin’ about for a little over a week.”**

_“No-_ **No, I… just enderman. No-”** he gestured wildly around as a substitute for ‘all this.’ There was no way, there was _no way_ that this was happening- this couldn’t be right. Well- sure, okay, maybe Ranboo was forgetting… something. Okay, he knew that much was true, there was a section of his memory suspiciously empty. But this was just… it was ridiculous, wasn’t it?

**“I’m sure it’s a lot,”** Techno said, sensing Ranboo’s not-so-discreet confusion and closing the window  **“And probably suspicious- we didn’t kidnap you, I promise.”**

That was far less reassuring than it was probably meant to be.

Ranboo sat back down on the bed and took a deep breath. Yeah, yeah it was definitely a lot. How did he know Technoblade wasn’t lying? He didn’t- he didn’t but… it was a gut feeling- he was just  _ pretty sure  _ Techno was telling the truth- as ridiculous as that truth may seem. Ugh, he just wanted to go home.

**“Look, I’m not great at, uh-”** Techno gestured at Ranboo  **“Y’know, this. When Phil gets back maybe he’ll be able to help out, he’s better in the… emotions department. I dunno. Until then, free roam, I guess. But stay around the cabin if you go outside, f’you don’t mind.”**

Ranboo looked up. Techno had gone from his place the window to the ladder- as Ranboo got more grounded as to where exactly he was, he realized that the hole in the ground did, in fact, have a ladder. Ranboo nodded.

**“Oh, and those books are in Galactic.”** Techno pointed to the bookshelves across the room, **“We got them for enchanting. Galactic’s like… written Enderman, right?”**

Ranboo nodded, despite the fact that Techno was definitely wrong. Galactic was a written language that most endermen learned along with Ender, not the same language. But that was semantics, and it wasn’t like Ranboo could exactly  _ say  _ that anyways.

**“Alright, well you can read them if you want. No idea what they’re about, though.”** Techno shrugged and started down the ladder. 

Ranboo watched him climb down and then took a deep breath. He’d probably be staying up here a while- he felt like if he went anywhere else it’d totally disorient him. He managed to collect himself enough to stand up and walk towards the shelves. There was a table of enchantment in the middle, flipping through pages, presenting itself to Ranboo. Ranboo knew enchantment books like the back of his hand, so he didn’t really care to read one of those at the moment.

The surrounding bookshelves were almost entirely Galactic- with the exception of a few in Old Galactic, which Ranboo did not know. Small particles- some meaningless, some letters, all magic- floated from their pages and into the enchantment book. He liked this little nook, frankly. It reminded him of the libraries in the cities. So long as he didn’t turn around, he was actually quite comfortable here.  


The bookshelves had a massive, and sort of hilarious, variety. From speculative fiction to biographies, history journals to collections of children’s stories. Ranboo took a seat on the ground (he didn’t like the way the wood felt, but he’d live) and found a book on the lowest shelf he found interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ranboo: wow im very disorientated in the place that i know nothing about and frankly worries me but as long as i stay grounded i think i can keep up and figure everything out  
> ranboo:  
> ranboo: anyways *starts reading to unground himself*  
> my characters are an enigma to everyone including myself


	4. Recognition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno gives Ranboo a tour of the cabin, and Ranboo finds something that might give him clues as to what's happening.

Ranboo wasn’t sure how long he was reading for, he just knew he’d made a few small book stacks around him. He heard something outside but didn’t truly hear it. Not until he started realizing it sounded familiar.

“-nboo?” He heard. It sounded like the human Techno lived with- Phil, “Ranboo?”

Ranboo put the book down and peered out one of the windows. He watched as Phil looked around, standing at the front of the house. Techno walked around from the back and met up with him. They began to converse.

“Not in the shack.” Techno said.

“Where’d he go? F’he was nearby he would’ve heard us.”

“I dunno, maybe.” Techno shrugged “I told him to stay ‘round the cabin.”

“I checked inside. Went in callin’ his name and shit.”

Techno nodded and looked up the front of the cabin. He spotted Ranboo, peeking out from the attic window. Ranboo shrunk into himself a bit on sight.

“Not loud enough, apparently.” Techno pointed up at him. Phil followed his line of sight.

“Oh-” He laughed “Goddammit!”

Techno waved to Ranboo. Ranboo tentatively waved back.

“What, you didn’t check the attic?” Techno asked, walking inside “The attic where we left him?”

“I went inside- right, like this-” Phil stepped inside “-and I called his name. He should’ve heard me!”

“Phil, we barely know if he even recognizes that as his name.” Techno pointed out as they started up the ladder to the top story. “It was just your dad instinct.”

“My-  _ what?”  _ Phil asked.

Techno laughed “It’s just so  _ dad  _ of you- like your dad comes home with the groceries or whatever, calls for you when you have your headphones on and then goes grumbling like ‘Oh, I didn’t need your help anyways-’ You literally did that.”

Phil laughed “Shut up.”

The two of them emerged into the small attic, being met with Ranboo on the other side. He was almost obscured by a few stacks of about half the books off the shelves. He’d had a lot of time to himself- when Techno went out to help Phil with collecting another zombie villager they somehow got caught up in a raid- it was a whole thing, they’d been gone a few more hours than they intended. They were glad Ranboo hadn’t run off or anything.

**“Hey.”** Techno said.

**“...Hello.”** Ranboo returned after a second.

Phil threw in a wave.

**“We were gone a bit longer than we meant- sorry about that.”** Techno said, crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall.

Had they? Ranboo hadn’t noticed- which wasn’t surprising, of course, he hadn’t been noticing much of anything for a while. He looked back at the books then at the two of them again.

Techno snickered a bit “I don’t think he minded our absence.” He directed at Phil. Phil chuckled.

**“Have you gone anywhere?”** Techno asked Ranboo.

Ranboo looked at the books again. He shook his head. Techno nodded.

**“Alright, well- me and Phil were gonna show you around the cabin property. Maybe jog your memory, or at least give you a tour, I guess.”** Techno shrugged, glancing at Phil- who looked back politely, as he wasn’t understanding a word.

Hmm… Ranboo wasn’t sure about all that. He was already anxious about being in the Main Realm as it was- this bombshell wasn’t really helping. He wasn’t exactly eager to explore more of his supposed home. But- Techno made a good point. Maybe touring some of the place could bring his memory back. Lord knows he wanted it.

**“Ranboo?”** Techno asked. Ranboo jumped out of his skin- Techno and Phil were looking at him, he must’ve gotten spacey.  **“Y’alright with that?”**

**“The-** _uh…_ **tour?”** He tried to repeat. Techno nodded.

**“Yeah.”**

Ranboo nodded, standing up. He steadied himself on the enchantment table. The Overworld always made him a bit dizzy, be it the temperature, the humidity, gravity, what have you. He blinked a bit as Phil and Techno went down the ladder. Techno was talking to Phil- translating- and waved for Ranboo to follow them.

The tour wasn’t as bad as Ranboo expected. The cabin was three stories- five counting the basement and basement’s basement. Every room felt oddly… familiar, in a way Ranboo couldn’t place- so did Techno and Phil actually. That was a good sign, right?

Techno brought Ranboo outside, and Ranboo immediately had to take a step back. Freshly fallen snow carpeted the ground, and while it wasn’t falling anymore, Ranboo could still feel the moisture clinging to his clothes. He was never a fan of the snow biomes- always far too  _ wet,  _ even if the temperature was similar to that of home.

Techno noticed Ranboo lingering at the door.

**“What is it?”** He asked, backtracking with Phil following him.

_ “Hm.” _ Ranboo replied, shaking his head and stepping outside. He could bear it- didn’t want to be a bother.

**“You sure?”** Techno asked. Ranboo nodded as they started rounding the house.  **“Alright. We won’t be out here long-”** He reassured, before promptly resuming the tour with a point at a building beside the cabin.  **“That’s the dog house. It’s where we keep our dogs.”**

Behind the house, like Techno had shown him earlier, stood a flimsy spruce shack built into the mountain. Techno reintroduced it as Ranboo’s house, and Ranboo looked around inside. It was simple- overworld bed, double chest, not much else. On one side there was a farm- on the other a mountain cliff.

Techno and Phil watched Ranboo look around before turning to the chest, opening it carefully. He looked through it for a moment, eventually pulling out a leather-bound book curiously. He flipped through it, puzzled, until landing on the first page. Ranboo was silent.

**“That’s your memory book, I think.”**

Ranboo looked up and closed it  **“Memory book?”** He repeated.

Techno nodded  **“You’ve had some type’a memory issues as long as I’ve known you. Never this bad, obviously, but notable.”**

Ranboo furrowed his brow and looked down at it. Did he? Ironic as it was, he thought he would’ve remembered that. He opened it to a random page, but the words were lost on him. It was written in some script he didn’t recognize.

**“I wouldn’t try reading it- unless you could read English, which would solve a lot of issues.”** Techno commented, watching Ranboo scour the page for  _ something  _ he recognized. Ranboo looked up at him, back at the book, then nodded. He closed the chest and walked out of the shack, taking the book with him. He was ready to go back inside.

They entered from the side door and, with Techno’s permission, Ranboo went back to the attic. Phil and Techno heard him sit down upstairs before turning to each other.

“I didn’t understand a fucking  _ word  _ of that,” Phil commented, leaning up against a brewing stand. Techno snorted.

“Nothing too interesting,” He said “Just showed him around the cabin, really.”

“Well yeah, I got that much,” Techno laughed again “What was up with him walking out?”

"When he stopped?" Techno shrugged “Dunno. He seemed fine, guess he’ll just be a hermit now.”

“Was it the snow, maybe? Endermen aren’t too fond of water.”

Techno nodded “Oh- yeah, that makes sense.”

“Never bothered him before though, did it,” Phil drummed his fingers on the brewing stand.

“Mmh, he had a… water-repellent thing on his armor. Some type of enchantment,” Techno replied. “Water never touched him.”

“Oh, well that’d be helpful if we knew where his armor was,” Phil chuckled “What’s the enchantment called? I’ve never heard of that.”

“Me neither. Dunno what it’s called- never really asked about it.”

Phil nodded.

They sat in silence for a second. Techno looked out the window- the sun would be setting soon.

“What’s he doin’ with the book?” Phil asked eventually.

Techno glanced at him “Getting some mileage out of it, I guess. I mean, a  _ ‘memory book’ _ sounds like a pretty apt thing for him to have right now.”

Techno and Phil laughed.

And Ranboo was upstairs. He’d sat back down in his little reading nook, mysterious book in his hands. What was it, English? It definitely didn’t sound like a Piglin word, was it an overworld language? He never recalled hearing about it. 

Well, he didn’t recall a lot of things, apparently.

The book was leather, with something carved lightly into the front cover, split into three parts- three words? The pages were thick and worn, covered in lightly scrawled ink. He tried flipping through it, scrutinizing every page for a scrap of something familiar.

In the end, the only thing of note was really the very first page. A few pages had been torn out in front of it, it seemed, and ink was smudged all across it, the ghost of words. And up in the top left, clear as day, was a little symbol.

:)

That was the only thing Ranboo recognized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GODDDD FINALLY WE'RE IN IT NOW BOYS :DDD  
> woo woo!! super excited to get into this some more :)) this story's a lot of fun


	5. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil and Techno attempt to jog Ranboo's memory and, surprisingly, kind of succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS SO LATE  
> had technical issues, i hate to have kept you guys waiting!

Hellebore.

That’s what he kept hearing.

Hellebore. Hellebore. Hellebore.

What even was a “hellebore”? What did that mean?? He could barely comprehend it the first few times, it didn’t sound like any language he knew. Was it a person, a place? 

Hellebore.

It wasn’t his voice. It wasn’t Techno’s or even Phil’s. It was someone else. Someone who sounded even more familiar than those two. Was it a friend?

Hellebore.

It kept repeating. It was the exact same, everytime. It sounded casual, as if just dropped into the conversation at random. But then why was it so prominent in his mind?

Hellebore.

Everytime he heard it, he felt something strange. Something slipping, being lost.

He woke up.

Ranboo had a crick in his neck, and it took him a second to realize why. It probably had something to do with falling asleep on the floor up against an enchantment table.

He needed a second to place where exactly he was. He almost thought he was in an end library, but the wooden shelves were what convinced him otherwise. The events of the previous day didn’t truly come back, though, until he heard the quiet conversation happening a floor down. He took a deep breath and sighed, setting aside the journal in his lap and standing up. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around.

He’d really made a good mess of this half of the room, with the books all strewn about, while the other looked totally untouched. He hadn’t really looked at it too much. Plain white bed, plain white walls. There was a bell on top of a block of precious overworld material, both of which he recognized from the villages he’d seen. The tallest part of the ceiling brushed his hair and he had to crouch to look out the windows. He wasn’t used to feeling tall, he was always pretty short- relatively, of course.

He heard one of them laugh from downstairs and walked near the ladder. They were speaking overworld again- was  _ that  _ English? Ranboo didn’t like that he couldn’t really eavesdrop.

He heard his name and stilled. Great, so not only could he not eavesdrop, he couldn’t eavesdrop  _ while they were talking about him. _

Wonderful.

He sat in the small space between the ladder and the bed, back to the wall. He tried to listen to what they were saying, pick apart the language he apparently used to know. And some sounds he could recognize, they evoked some type of abstract concept in his mind, but the rest blurred together in a muddled heap of gibberish.

For maybe a few minutes, Ranboo sat there, trying to piece together this broken language. Certain sounds together- a word? Words?- brought certain imagery to mind, which was certainly better than nothing. It gave him the dullest sense of hope that he might be able to recover it. Maybe settle back into whatever life he’d been living here before. But really, more than anything, he just wanted to go home.

All he wanted was to go home.

“Ranboo?” He heard. Definitely Phil. The overworld tongue had a very distinct take on his name. He’d almost just assumed they were still talking about him, if it weren’t for the silence that followed. “Ranboo?”

There was a creak on the ladder and, curiously, Ranboo peeked down, finding Phil peering back up at him, just about to ascend the rungs. He met Ranboo’s eyes and turned around, saying something to Techno before looking back up and motioning Ranboo to come down.

Ranboo did so, making his way to the second floor of the cabin.

Techno was seated on a chest and Phil had gone to perch on the windowsill. Ranboo stood by the ladder, shifting on his feet awkwardly whilst the two talked amongst themselves.

**“Ranboo?”** Techno gets his attention. Ranboo looks at him expectantly.  **“Hey. Guess I’ll cut to the chase- d’you mind if we ask you some questions? Me an’ Phil are trying to figure out, yanno, where exactly you** **_are_ ** **, if that makes sense.”**

Ranboo nodded.

**“So you don’t mind?”**

**“Don’t mind,”** Ranboo was getting better at repeating the phrases he understood. Techno nodded with the shadow of a smile and turned to Phil- translating, Ranboo guessed. 

**“Alright, alright-”** Techno started after a second of conversation between the two  **“Ranboo, what’s the last thing you remember? Before yesterday, obviously.”**

Ranboo thought about that. Well, no real  _ memories  _ came to mind, per se, as most recent, but he knew that the last thing he remembered, the last place he was, was the End. In his fleet colony.

Ranboo took a second before responding.  **“Home. I was… End.”**

Techno furrowed his brow  **“Really? You were in the End?”**

Ranboo nodded. Techno turned to Phil.

“Phil, he said the last thing he remembered is being in the End,” Techno said “That can’t be right.”

Phil looked only marginally surprised and glanced at Ranboo “Ah, well...”

“What do you m-” Techno watched Phil, narrowing his eyes “The End’s like… it’s a myth, isn’t it?”

Phil shifted in place at the window “It’s complicated.”

“Wait-” 

“We should ask him about his time on the server,” Phil interrupted “See if it rings any bells, you know?”

Techno was most certainly  _ not  _ done with asking what Phil was talking about, but whatever, he could do that later. He huffed.

“What would I even ask?” He asked, “I didn’t even know this kid until he tried to kill me.”

“I dunno- big things, see if they sound familiar,” Phil shrugged, “Like L’Manberg.”

Ranboo blinked. Oh, that was a  _ word  _ with  _ feelings,  _ wasn’t it? He took a step back- careful not to fall down the ladder- as if the sounds had physically punched him in the gut. 

Phil and Techno both looked at him. Well, now they were getting somewhere. Phil nudged Techno to say something.

**“Ranboo?”** Techno asked  **“You alright?”**

Ranboo looked up and took a deep breath, nodding and composing himself.

“ _Uh…_ **yes,”** Ranboo replied. He pointed to Phil **“What…”** _What did he say?_ He wanted to ask, but he couldn’t vocalize anything past that first word. Thankfully, Techno seemed to understand.

“‘L’Manberg?’” Techno asked, not bothering to translate it to Piglish. Ranboo blinked hard and nodded **“Why? What do you remember about it?”**

Ranboo gave that some thought. What  _ did  _ he remember about it? He didn’t even know what those three syllables meant. It just… brought things to mind. Something happy, something sad. Something angry, something scared. Something silent, something loud. A whirl of _ things _ he couldn’t quite grasp the memories of, threads slipping from his fingers like water in mesh.

**“Ranboo.”**

Ranboo blinked and shook his head. He’d stumbled back, putting his back to the wall. He looked up at Techno. 

**“You can take a second if you need to,”** He said.

Ranboo shook his head.

_ “Um _ .  **Remember much feelings… not…”** He trailed off. Techno nodded.

**“So, no memories?”** Techno asked.

**“Yes.”**

**“What feelings, then?”**

Ranboo paused.

_“How do- uh…_ **all.”** He tried **“Much.”**

Techno snorted and leaned over to Phil.

“Says he can’t remember anything ‘bout L’Manberg but it gives him ‘much’ feelings,'' He translated. Phil chuckled. “Should we tell him?” Techno asked.

“D’you think that’s a good idea? Kid almost went into cardiac arrest when he’d just heard the name.”

Techno considered that.

“I mean,” Phil continued “We know that he doesn’t seem to remember his time on the server. That’s all we really needed.”

“True,” Techno nodded, “So we’re leaving him be for now?”

“I think we oughta.”

Techno nodded and looked back to Ranboo, who was fidgeting with his hands.

**“Alright- we’ll let you go for now,”** He said  **“Unless… you have any questions?”** He added after a second.

Ranboo quickly shook his head, paused, then nodded.

**“You do?”**

He nodded.

**“What is it?”**

Ranboo thought about how to word it. He pointed to the floor above them.

**“The room… your’s?”** He asked. He imagined it wasn’t his, evident by the bed that lay in his shack, so it was either Phil or Techno’s. Techno raised an eyebrow.

**“What, up there? I mean, yeah, technically. Not in a rush to get it back or anything- I hardly sleep anyways. Don’t worry about it.”** Techno shrugged.

Ranboo considered that. Well, alright, he’d still be trying to set up somewhere else as soon as possible, though.

He pointed to Phil with what he hoped was a quisitive look. Techno looked at him curiously.

**“Phil’s room?”**

Ranboo nodded, putting down his hand.

**“He-”** Techno glanced back at Phil, as if silently asking what he could disclose. Phil looked back at him politely, on which Techno remembered he was utterly oblivious to the conversation at hand,  **“He has a room. Doesn’t sleep much either, so he doesn’t visit it often. It’s not in the house.”**

Now that he’d made sure he wasn’t stepping on any toes, Ranboo nodded.

**“S’that all?”**

Again, Ranboo nodded  **“Yes.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay! next chapter will be coming out very shortly :DD


	6. Kindred

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo escapes to his old shack and is met by a fellow enderman, one he converses with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this took slightly longer than i intended my apologies  
> this chapter and the next will have a lot of enderlore lmao jdhkdjfh my apologies if you dont vibe with that

Ranboo had gone outside after that. He didn’t necessarily want to, obviously, but especially after… whatever happened in there, he wanted to see if there was anything he could put together in the jigsaw puzzle that was his brain. Like a jigsaw half-finished, with the rest of the pieces scattered to the wind- hopefully to be found again, of course, but far from guaranteed.

He looked at the surrounding area from under the roof of his little spruce hut. The same as yesterday. Blindingly white snow, against which stood out only the mountain cliffs and the two buildings in front of him. He took a deep breath and turned around, facing the shack for the second time.

He dug around the chest again, seeing if he could find anything of interest, anything to set off a spark in his brain. He failed, but then discovered that behind the thin, crumbling wall of dirt lie two- three?- more double chests. Double chests he’d just begun searching through when he heard someone behind him.

_ “You’ve been gone quite some time.” _

Ranboo whipped around quickly, being met with an enderman just past the fence. They had to tilt slightly to see him beneath the roof. Ranboo went to the fence and looked up, furrowing his brows.

_ “We were starting to worry,”  _ The enderman crouched slightly to be eye level with Ranboo, in all his under-developed hybrid glory.

Ranboo looked at them steadily.

_ “Do I know you?”  _ He asked. It was a relief to be able to speak Ender again, but he felt the need to establish that he didn’t know who this was.

The enderman smiled, the slits in their mouth showing clearly.

_ “Yes,”  _ They said  _ “But I’m not for a moment surprised you don’t remember me.” _

Ranboo stood silently, inviting them to elaborate. They did not, however, opting to instead tilt their head to Ranboo’s floor.

_ “You’ve been in your basement, I suspect?”  _ They asked  _ “That snowstorm really did a number on the humidity here- it’s been uncomfortable out here for the past few days.” _

Ranboo looked at the ground behind him, then back at the enderman.

_ “I have a basement?” _

The enderman laughed a garbled laugh.

_ “That you do, little one. Right past your work bench, there,”  _ They pointed right past his work bench. Ranboo turned around, going to the dirt that laid there. It gave way quickly, and his shovel thunked against a wooden trapdoor. Ranboo glanced back at the enderman, who nodded him along, before opening the hatch and going down the ladder.

Before him was a messy hodge-podge of chests, dirt, boats, and a sugar cane farm. It was cramped in a cozy sort of way. Ranboo felt like he could feel at home here- and suspected that at some point in the past, he had.

He went back up to ask the enderman if they’d like to come down, but they were gone. Slightly disappointed, he descended again, only to be met by them on the basement floor. He nearly fell off the ladder.

The enderman laughed as Ranboo got onto the ground  _ “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” _

Ranboo shook his head, laughing a bit himself  _ “No, you’re fine, I just- wasn’t expecting it.” _

The enderman watched him as he roamed around the small room, sitting, knees to their chest. When he returned to the main area, they spoke.

_ “I don’t think we’ve ever found you so lucid before.” _

Ranboo turned around, confused.

_ “Lucid? We?”  _ He asked. They shook their head with a small smile.

_ “I suppose there’s much to explain,”  _ They said. They moved to stand up but stopped, likely because of the low ceiling. So they instead motioned for Ranboo to sit next to them. After a second’s hesitation, he did so  _ “My name’s Orlen. Me and some other enderfolk have been keeping an eye on you for a while now- ever since you moved out here.” _

_ “Why?”  _ Asked Ranboo  _ “Because I’m a hybrid?” _

Orlen hummed  _ “Oh, that was the first reason, sure,”  _ There was a pause and Ranboo gestured for them to elaborate  _ “Well, you’re a very… interesting case, Ranboo. I think the first thing that truly piqued our interest was your eye.” _

For the first time Ranboo really saw their eyes, a brilliant purple. He’d heard about endermen with purple eyes, back in the End. It meant that the enderdragon had come back into control. Ranboo was born and raised in a period of relief, in which the newest generation of dragon hadn’t hatched yet. He remembered being taught that everytime, Her rule was tyrannical and oppressive. Being taught She was bad, in the hopes that his generation would finally come above Her brainwashing.

He remembered one of the older endermen telling him something one day. That the endfolk always taught this lesson and it never worked. And now that Ranboo knew it to be true, it was even more chilling than before.

Ranboo blinked. Orlen had looked away, facing the wall, and Ranboo realized he’d probably been staring.

_ “Sorry,”  _ He mumbled, facing away as well. He was used to having conversations like this.

Orlen laughed quietly, shaking their head  _ “Oh no, don’t worry about it dear. You’re quite alright.” _

They were both quiet for a moment.

_ “So… She’s back?”  _ He asked eventually.

Orlen nodded.

_ “So you were raised in the End?” _

_ “I was.” _

Orlen smiled  _ “Alright. We thought so, none of the Main Realm dwellers recognized you,”  _ She hummed  _ “But yes, She is. I know what you were taught, Ranboo, but this one is different. She’s kind.” _

Ranboo shifted in place and bit his tongue.

_ “You don’t believe me, do you?”  _ Orlen asked.

Ranboo felt his pulse quicken. He didn’t know what to do, this was a completely new experience. He’d never met an enderman like this.

_ “Oh no, I- I do. I mean, I don’t have much place to, uh, to judge, do I? I’ve never met Her.”  _ He attempted, hoping he’d said the right things.

Orlen just chuckled  _ “It’s fine if you don’t, Ranboo, I understand. But trust me, won’t you?”  _ They shook their head  _ “Either way, your eye. It’s green. That means you haven’t heard Her yet.” _

Ranboo nodded.

_ “My parents told me I might be immune. Because I’m a hybrid,” _ Ranboo said.

_ “Oh, that makes sense, I suppose,”  _ Orlen nodded  _ “It’s really a shame, but-”  _

They paused, before asking  _ “Ranboo, can you teleport?” _

Ranboo hesitated.

_ “Sometimes. Not well, not far, but technically yes, I can. Why?” _

_ “How did you get to the Main Realm, then? You can only get out through teleportation.” _

Ranboo looked at them  _ “Uh… I usually used the portals.” _

_ “Oh,”  _ Orlen said. Their face took on a sympathetic look,  _ “You’ve been here quite a while, haven’t you?” _

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy, this'll be fun :)  
> anyways- hope you enjoyed it guys!  
> leave feedback please! positive or negative (and constructive), it's all appreciated.  
> hope you have a great day <3  
> special thanks to TheReadingGal for helping me work this whole thing out :))


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